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Late Pregnancies

I'm mulling of having a late pregnancy but I'm already in my forties. As for a friend of mine, she's in her mid-thirties and she has difficulty conceiving. What health advice then would you give to women who still plan to have kids in their 30's and 40's?

There are women who are in their 20's and have the fertility of a woman in her 40's, and there are women in their 40's who have the fertility of women in their 20's or 30's.

One of my clients had an FSH level of 15.6 when she was 39. This is high and represents low quality eggs and/or low egg reserve. The infertility doctors gave her very little hope of being able to conceive with her own eggs.

But she was desperate and decided to give IVF a try... 4 times. She could not conceive with her own eggs.

That's when I started working with her to naturally boost her fertility. She conceived quickly and gave birth to a healthy baby boy who is now 15 months old.

This mum is now trying for baby #2, at the age of 42 1/2. She just had her hormone levels checked and her FSH has dropped to 10.9. The Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor she is now working with said that she now has the fertility of a 30 year old (and we're hoping for another baby soon).

Please post back how old you are and if you know when you want to start trying to conceive. Many women who are not married yet are opting to have their eggs frozen for when they are ready to have a child. The older you get, the lower the egg quality (typically) so even if you opt to have your eggs frozen for future use, you'll want to be sure you do some preconception care to boost the quality of those eggs.

Your responses are very encouraging. It is like a breath of fresh air, especially when women of my age range are commonly not encouraged to have children. I just love it! It makes me feel better and a lot more confident about having my own kids. Thanks a lot for the information. A big help indeed. I hope other women and even men who read this thread would feel the same as I do.

Oh, about my age, I'm already 44 years old. I also want to have the quality of my eggs checked before anything else. Aside from knowing your FSH level, are there other indicators that one can one rely on when it comes to determining the quality of one's ova? Thanks.

As far as I know, FSH is the main indicator for quality and quantity of eggs. But your cervical mucus quality and quantity (during your fertile window) will give you good indication of your fertility - whether it is high, low or somewhere in between.

Good day! I hope you still remembered me. I am here because of you. But I become inactive in the forum after some posting due to some personal reasons that I want to share to you.

I just got married last December 2011. I am 46 years old and had a regular period eve rsince before I got married. However my last period is December 15, 2011 but it did not came since January 2012 so by April 2012 I went to the doctor and she advice me to have an ultrasound to know if I am pregnant. Bu sad to say it was negative. Although in my ultrasound it said that I had normal ovaries when it comes to size and features with no cysts and abnormalities meaning there is no findings. So the obgyne said maybe I am a candidiate for perimenopause, so she advice me to take PROVERA for 10 days to restore my menstruation. But I am afraid to take the medicines because I do not know its side effects n the body. Do you think it is safe to take this? Are there any other natural treatments to regulate back my cycle. Please help...

My husband is working abroad and by August 2012 he will be back home. We desperately want to have a child even only one kid we can call our own. The doctor said that I should take Provera so that by the time my husband will be back my period is back to normal again. Can you also give me some nautural care I can do to my body. Although ever since before I got married I am living a healthy lifestyle because I know I will marry late already and that I should prepare myself to be healthy. no smoking, no drinking, eating healthy and taking prenatal vitamins with folic acid.

Please give me some advices and ideas about this matter so that before my husband come home I can prepare myself of trying to conceive again

I'm sure Kate will give you an really helpful reply to your post. I'm really sorry to hear of the disappointing result at your ultrasound.

Yes it is advised to take folic acid supplements (500 micrograms a day) when you are trying to conceive. You can start taking this now in preparation for your husband's return. Studies have also shown you have the greatest chance of falling pregnant when you avoid caffeine and alcohol. It is also advisable that both you and your husband have a regular exercise program (this doesn't need to be extreme but enough to maintain your health). There is more information in this article: Planning for Pregnancy: Preconception Care.

It's good to see you again :-) It's good news to hear that the ultrasound showed no problems with your ovaries and the fact that the doctor thinks you may be perimenopausal is better than the doctor thinking that your irregular cycles are due to PCOS. In PCOS, you would see a "ring of pearls" on the ovaries from follicles that prepared to release an egg, but then the egg was not released and the follicle became a cyst on the periphery of the ovary. If the doctor is familiar with this, she would have been looking for this "ring of pearls" on the ovaries - the fact that she did not see anything abnormal is a very good thing.

So the next thing I would want to know is if the doctor ordered any hormonal tests to check for your egg quality and your hormonal balance. If she did, please let me know what the results from these tests were. If she did not, please let me know if you are interested in some suggestions on which tests to have done. Once you know where the hormonal imbalance is, then you can address that, specifically.

Truly, I'm never one to advocate the use of synthetic hormones like Provera simply because of the link to breast cancer and other side effects. Provera does not cause ovulation, it is just supposed to have a period. If your cycles aren't regular before Provera, there's a super high chance they won't be regular after Provera. My concern is that Provera won't solve the underlying cause of the irregular cycles, and you really want to solve that problem so that when you do conceive, you'll have a high chance of having a full term pregnancy and giving birth to a healthy baby.

Also, you probably have the option of doing Provera in conjunction with Clomid. Clomid is an ovulation stimulating drug. You would want to talk to your doctor about this.

It's going to be a lot of work for you to bring your body back into a fertile state. I believe it can be done, but you'll need to be dedicated to the process, and this process can take some time. It's June now, your husband is due back in August, so if you wait until September to try hopefully that will give you 3 months of effort, and as we know, it takes about 4 months for an egg to grow into a mature egg that is capable of being fertilized.

Laura Jane had a great link for you, which tells some different things you can be doing now in preparation for conception. The only supplement you are taking now is a Prenatal Vitamin. You'll want to be sure your Vitamin D level is adequate (this is a blood test that can done) and you'll want to be sure you're getting enough Omega 3 Fatty Acids. This comes in the form of fish oil, cod liver oil, flax oil, etc. I would love to see you take 1 Tblsp. of high quality (preferably organic) olive oil every day, 30 minutes before a meal, for a month (my nutritionist even had me doing 2 Tblsp. a day at one time), along with 1 Tblsp. of cod liver oil or a fish oil. Just adding in these two oils each day can help to balance hormones.

I'd also encourage you to be sure you're getting enough pure water and that you're having 2-3 good bowel movements a day. Taking something like organic Chlorophyll and drinking enough water will help to keep the bowels moving well.

I'd highly recommend that you find a natural practitioner in your area who can create a customized plan for you as your age and the perimenopausal signs mean that you need to really find the best practitioners who can create a very specific protocol/plan for you, and can do regular testing and can support your body with acupuncture, herbs, or whatever their specialty is. The more you can do to support your reproductive system the faster you will come into a place of being fertile.

When I was in my mid 30's, I became perimenopausal and I stopped ovulating. I worked closely with 3 practitioners, and I was able to turn it around. But it took a year to do it. The good news is that once I was able to turn it around, I went on to give birth to two more children, the last when I was 40.

Hope this helps and I wish you all the best! Let us know if you have any further questions.

Thanks again for the wonderful informations with regards to my inquiries. Are you sure women at perimenopausal age can still get pregnant? Give me some more post about trying to conceive during perimenopause. Right now I am worried. I am praying that by August when my husband comes back I can conceive. But the problem like I told you my period stops since January of the this year. I had regular period before.

With regards to the olive oil I will take it together with the fish oil? Can I take the fish oil in supplement form in capsule which is 1000 mg per piece? Do i need it to take for one month only? I am losing hope already becuase I want to have a child already for my husband.

Please give me more post on how to conceive during perimenopause.

I will be glad to hear from you again

Amy

Last edited by readme_mumsies_byAmy; 15th June 2012 at 01:16 AM.
Reason: additional sentences

One thing I also wat to ask how will I know if I am still ovulating with the fact that my period stopped since January....?

Keep me inform. What are the ways where can I restore my ovulation so that my period will come so that by August when my husband comes I will be fertile.. I am really desperate to have a child already.

One thing you can do right now is to learn how to watch your body's fertility signs. This is critical at your age because you may ovulate anytime, and your cycles are no longer regular, so knowing a few days in advance, when you're going to ovulate is really important.

Please take a look at the "How To Conceive If You Have Irregular Periods" thread and let me know if you understand what I wrote there. Also let me know if you're seeing any of those fertility signs or if you feel like you're pretty much "dry" all the time (no signs of fertility). I'm 48 now, and I'm pretty much dry all the time. I think my last period was back in January as well. But I know how to read my body's signs, and if I was going to ovulate my body would tell me in advance (though it may only be a day in advance).

If I were going to try to bring my body back into a state of fertility I would avoid all dairy products and all gluten (wheat, oats that don't say "gluten free", etc.). Corn does not have gluten in it and neither does rice. Here's a list of gluten free foods. Make sure you avoid the dairy products in that list while trying to prepare your body for conception. The dairy can cause a bad mucus build up in the fallopian tubes, and we want to be sure the tubes are very open right now.

Dr. Marilyn Glennville has a page on her site that includes a List of Supplements that should be taken at least 3 months before you conceive. Those supplements will help balance your hormones.

As for the oil - yes, you can take the fish oil in supplement form.

You really need to talk to a naturopath or a Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner in your area who can give you acupuncture and a special combination of herbs that address your specific fertility challenges. A woman's cycle is very complex, and everything must work in perfect harmony in order for conception to occur and to avoid a miscarriage.

Dr. Seidman has a long distance programme that he offers for women who cannot see him personally. Take a look at this video which shows you more about how Acupuncture and Herbs can help women who are having trouble conceiving...

Probably what I would stress to you more than anything is to find someone who can work with you personally. Someone who will take a detailed record of your history and take a close look at what your cycles are doing now.

You'll probably want to start taking your basil body temperature each day and charting that. You can use Fertility Friend to help you learn how to do this. Having charts will be something that will help your practitioner know what your body is doing so he/she can improve the areas that need improvement.

Get lots of rest, eat properly, exercise daily, take the right supplements, take the proper herbs, work with a holistic practitioner who can help to bring your body into a state of fertility. These are all things that will help you.

Good day! After I read your posts about taking 1 tbsp olive oil 30 minutes before meal together with fish oil supplement I already started taking this. How long will I take this? As you had said at this stage of perimenopause it is very critical at my age 47 years old with no regular cycle anymore. As I told you my last period is last December 2011. Now it is already going to be July already. But to my surprises after days of taking the live oil and fish oil I had cervical mucus everyday. You said that I may ovulate anytime.

Can you please explain further. My husband will come home this month of August as I said to you in my previous post. Right now I am losing hope if my period will come this July so that by August with God's divine mercy conceiving will be possible even I am nearing menopause. Like what I said my ultrasound said that I had normal ovaries and no cysts found and no other findings.

Along with this olive oil and fish oil I also take multivitamins, eat healthy foods, what other natural herbs can help me to conceive? I read that parsley tea can bring a period is it true? And honey and cinnamon when taking together everyday is also a preconception formula. Is it true also. I will anything to bring my period again and to be fertile before month of August.

Please give more infos. Now I am relying to all your posts. I did not use Provera as what my ongyne said. I am afraid of the effects of breast cancer. Give me more natural tips on how to bring back a period for a perimenopausal woman who wants to have a child even if it is too late.

To add to my post, during my previous period since it started when I was 12 years old up to the time it stopped last December 2011 I am 47 years oldbecause my doctor said that I am in perimenopausal stage it is very normal always regular no signs of menstrual cramps and pains. I had gone through me menstrual period with no problems eversince. And one thing is had always short cycle ranging from 21 days sometimes 25 days. What does it means when a woman had short cycles? Can you give me some infos also about this. Do you think this will have something to do with conceiving?

You had regular cycles from 12 years of age until you were 47. Now you haven't had a period since December. You also mentioned that your cycles have always been short, ranging from 12 to 25 days in length.

The "typical" peri-menopausal pattern is to go from regular cycles of around 28-30 days, to shorter cycles, and then to longer cycles, like skipping many months. I am 48 years old and I always had very regular cycles, no PMS when I was fertile. Then when I started peri-menopause the cycles became much shorter, and now I am skipping months - with my periods coming about once every 5 months or so. Eventually, when I go an entire year without a period or without ovulating, that will be what is considered "menopause".

Have you had any blood work done? I think it would be very important for you to know what your FSH level is. This is a test which is done on day 3 of your cycle and indicates the quality and QUANTITY of your eggs. If you don't have very many eggs left, there's not much which can be done in order to help you conceive, for without the release of an egg, conception cannot occur.

However, we do know that we can increase egg quality, so if you have some eggs, we will want to increase the quality of those eggs so that if your body decides to ovulate, the quality of the egg ovulated will be the best it can be.

You may want to consider taking the Provera for just one cycle, to bring your period on in hopes that you will ovulate in August, but my biggest concern isn't so much the lack of a period as it is the quantity of eggs you have. If you are able to have a period, then you could do the "Day 3" FSH test on the 3rd day of your period. This is a blood test. If the FSH is elevated (a higher number) the lower the egg reserve.